Combined hinge and head bolt for compression tanks



1955 P. J. JOHNSON 2,700,790

COMBINED HINGE AND HEAD BOLT FOR COMPRESSION TANKS Filed Feb. 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IINVENTOR. Paul J Johnson Feb. 1, 1955 P. J. JOHNSON COMBINED HINGE AND HEAD BOLT FOR COMPRESSION TANKS Filed Feb. 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Paw J Jofiivsan YZQWMMfiW flm'm aaz ATTORIVL'YS United States Patent COMBINED HINGE AND HEAD BOLT FOR COMPRESSION TANKS Paul J. Johnson, Haughton, La. Application February 15, 1952, Serial No. 271,831

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-130) This invention relates to improvements in hinged closures for compression tanks, such as those used for creosoting timber poles, posts and pilings, and it is among the objects of the present invention to provide adjustable closure means including a combined hinge and head bolt assembly which will eliminate the necessity for the elongated or slotted holes now provided in the hinges for such closures and permit free movement of the closure between its open and closed positions; which eliminates the misalignment between the closure and adjacent end of the tank incident to the use of the hinges at present provided and, at the same time, permits the closure bolts to be tightened to clamp the closure in sealing engagement with the adjacent end of the tank; which can be used as both a hinge and a head bolt, reducing the number of parts required to support the closure and seal it to the associated tank; which can be mounted on an existing tank closure and tank in replacement of the slotted type hinges with no material modification of the tank or closure construction; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, and effective and efficient in operation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a pressure tank and lid assembly showing hinges illustrative of the invention associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the assembly shown in Figure 1, particularly illustrating one of the hinges;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the hinge illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure 4.

With continued reference to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally indicates a pressure tank, for example a tank used for creosoting wooden posts, poles or piling. The tank 10 is circular cross sectional shape and has an external flange 11 extending around its upper open end. The numeral 12 generally indicates a circular lid or door for the tank 10, having a domeshaped head plate and an annular door ring 13 extending therearound. The flange 11 and door ring 13 are of substantially the same diameter and when the lid is in closing relationship to the open end of the tank the faces of the flange 11 and door ring 13 are op posed in sealing engagement, suitable sealing surfaces being provided on the faces of the flange and door ring or suitable packing material being disposed therebetween, if desired, to provide a pressure resisting seal between the lid and the tank.

The lid 12 is secured in sealing engagement to the tank by means of a plurality of head bolt assemblies, two of which are shown in Figure 1 and generally indicated at 14 and 15, disposed at substantially equal intervals entirely around the flange 11 and door ring 13, there being a suflicient number of these bolts to provide a seal between the lid and the tank which will hold fluid, such as steam, at high pressure within the tank.

Each head bolt assembly comprises a saddle 16 secured to the flange 11 and projecting outwardly therefrom, each saddle including two spaced apart and substantially parallel lugs 17 and 18, the facing sides of the lugs each having an upwardly inclined slot, the slots extending to the outer ends of the lugs and terminating at their inner ends in substantially semicylindrical surfaces spaced from the outer surface of the flange 11. Each head bolt assembly further includes a bracket 19 fixed on the door ring 13 and including a pair of lugs 20 and 21 secured each at one end to the door ring and projecting outwardly therefrom in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other. A bolt shank 22 has on one end a cylindrical cross head 23, the ends of which are received in the slots in the lugs 17 and 18 and the stem extends between the lugs 20 and 21 and is externally screw threaded at its other end. A nut 24 is threaded onto the screw threaded end of the bolt shank 22, and a washer 25 is disposed between this nut and the edges of the lugs 20 and 21 remote from the lugs 17 and 18 so that, when the nut 24 is threaded inwardly on the shank 22 the bracket 19 will be forced toward the saddle 16 thereby compressing the door ring 13 and the tank flange 11 together.

As all of the bolt assemblies may be of the same construction, the above detailed description of the lid bolt assembly 14 is considered suflicient for the purposes of the present disclosure.

Hinges are provided at spaced apart locations along the flange 11 and door ring 13. In the usual construction each of these hinges comprises a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel lugs projecting outwardly from the tank and having mutually registering apertures therein, a lug projecting outwardly from the lid and received between the tank carried lugs, the lid carried lug having an aperture therein registering with the apertures in the tank carried lugs, and a pin extending through the registering apertures in the hinge lugs. In this case the apertures in either the tank carried lugs or the lid carried lugs or both lugs are elongated so that the head can rise sufliciently to compensate for the curature of the lid and tank between the two hinges when the lid is hinged upwardly and backwardly to open the tank and so that the lid bolts can be tightened to clamp the lid and tank flanges together in sealing relationship with each other. This elongation or slotting of the apertures in the hinge lugs permits relative movement of the lid relative to the tank so that the lid does not stay in proper alignment with the tank and the abutting edges of the lid and tank flanges are often misaligned when the lid is brought to closing position, requiring a considerable amount of effort and labor to properly align the flanges and sometimes resulting in damage to the sealing edges of the flanges.

The present invention provides hinge assemblies, as generally indicated at 26 and 27, which permit the lid to move freely in its movements between its tank open-' ing and tank closing positions while maintaining the tank and door ring in proper alignment for sealing when the lid is moved to closing position and which permit movement of the lid relative to the tank under the force exerted by the lid bolts to seal the lid on the tank. These hinges are also adapted to function as lid bolts themselves, thereby taking the place of at least two of the lid bolts ordinarily provided to seal the lid to the tank.

As the two hinges 26 and 27 are of substantially identical construction, a detailed illustration and description of one only is considered sufficient for the purposes of the present invention and the hinge 26 has been selected for such detailed illustration and description and is particularly shown in Figures 2 to 7 inclusive.

The hinge 26 comprises a cylindrical tube 30 spaced from the outer surface of the tank 10 with its center line substantially perpendicular to a plane including upper face of the tank flange 11 and is secured to the tank by the brackets 31 and 32 disposed one near each end of the tube and extending partly around the latter. Each of the brackets 31 and 32 is securely welded at one end to the tank and at its other end to the tube 30 and the two brackets rigidly support the tube on the tank.

Annular collars 33 and 34 are disposed in the tube 30 one at each end of the latter and each collar has a coaxial aperture of circular shape extending therethrough, as indicated at and 36, respectively. The upper collar 33 is rigidly secured in the socket by being welded or expanded therein and the lower collar 34 is releasably secured in the tube, as by being screw threaded into the tube, for a purpose which will presently appear.

A bearing bushing 37 of cylindrical shape is secured in the aperture 35 in the collar 33 and a similar bearing bushing 38 is secured in the aperture 36 in the collar 34.

A shank of cylindrical shape extends through the bushings 37 and 38 and has at its upper end a clcvis providing a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel llfigs 41 and 42 having mutually registering apertures t erein.

An arm 43 is secured at one end to the door ring 13 and declines outwardly and downwardly from the door ring 13 and is disposed at its free end between the lugs 41 and 42 on the stem 40. The arm 43 has a transverse aperture therethrough near its free end and a hinge pin 44 extends through the registering apertures in the lugs 41 and 42 and the arm 43 to pivotally connect the arm 43 to the shank 40. The pin 44 is held in position relative to the lugs 41 and 42 by a set screw 45 which is threaded through a tapped hole in the arm 43 and engages the pin 44 at its inner end.

At its lower end the shank 40 is provided with external screw threads 46, and a nut 47 is threaded onto the screw threaded end of the shank 40 at the lower side of the collar 34, a washer 48 being preferably interposed between the nut 47 and the collar 34.

The nut 47 provides a limit stop for movement of the stem 40 upwardly or toward the head 10, relative to the socket 30 and may be also used to draw the shank through the tube in a manner to apply pressure between the abutting edges of the tank flange 11 and door ring 13.

An annular flange 50 is fixed on the shank 40 at a point between the collars 33 and 34 but nearer the collar 33 than the collar 34 and a coiled compression spring 51 surrounds the shank between the collar 34 and the flange 50 and bears at one end against the inner side of the collar 34 and at its other end against the side of the annular flange 50 adjacent the collar 34. This spring resiliently urges the shank 40 through the tube 30 in a direction to hold the nut 47 and washer 48 firmly against the outer or bottom side of the collar 34.

With this arrangement, when the nut 47 is loosened on the shank 40 the spring 51 will exert a force which will tend to raise the lid 12 relative to the tank 10 sufliciently to permit free movement of the lid from its closed to its open position. The spring 51 may, however, be omitted, if desired, without materially effecting the scope of the invention.

In the improved hinge of the present invention the shank 40 has a close sliding fit in the bearing bushings 37 and 38 and the hinge pin 44 has a close fit in the apertures in the lugs 41 and 42 so that there is no looseness or lost motion in the hinge. The hinges thus maintain the lid in proper alignment with the tank for closing into sealing engagement with the tank but, at the same time, permit sufiicient freedom of movement of the lid toward and away from the tank so that the lid can open and close freely relative to the tank. The hinges may also be used as head clamping bolts, as described above.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hinge bolt assembly, a cylindrical tube adapted to be fixed on a support, a fixed collar closing an end of said tube, a removable collar closing the other end of said tube, said collars having central openings, a shank slidably traversing the openings of said fixed collar and said removable collar, a fixed annular flange on said shank and spaced from said collars, a helical expanding spring circumposed on said shank between said removable collar and said flange, said shank having a threaded end reaching axially outwardly beyond said removable collar, a nut on said threaded end arranged to bear against said removable collar, said shank having another end projecting axially outwardly beyond said fixed collar, a rigid arm having a free end and another end adapted to be fixed to a swingable element, and means fixedly pivoting the free end of said arm to said other end of the shank.

2. In a hinge bolt assembly, a cylindrical tube adapted to be fixed on a support, a fixed collar closing an end of said tube, a removable collar closing the other end of said tube, said collars having central openings, a shank slidably traversing the openings of said fixed collar and said removable collar, a fixed annular flange on said shank and spaced from said collars, a helical expanding spring circumposed on said shank between said removable collar and said flange, said shank having a threaded end reaching axially outwardly beyond said removable collar, a nut on said threaded end arranged to bear against said removable collar, said shank having another end projecting axially outwardly beyond said fixed collar, a rigid arm having a free end and another end adapted to be fixed to a swingable element, and means fixedly pivoting the free end of said arm to said other end of the shank, said tube having an internally threaded portion, and said removable collar being externally threaded and threadably engaged with the internally threaded portion of the tube, said removable collar being rotatable in the tube to adjust the compression of said spring and to determine clearance of said swingable element relative to said support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 781,371 Sherman Jan. 31, 1905 863,160 DeWein Aug. 13, 1907 2,037,707 Davis Apr. 21, 1936 2,222,920 Tucker Nov. 26, 1940 2,420,411 Blount May 13, 1947 

